


What it Takes to be a Hero

by hfanjoy1



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: First Hero, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23299498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hfanjoy1/pseuds/hfanjoy1
Summary: The Links travel to a Hyrule they don't recognize, however Sky knows the layout of this new land. Why does it seem so similar to the forest on the surface?Or, the Links meet the First Hero.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 169





	What it Takes to be a Hero

**Author's Note:**

> I had request on tumblr for "What if the links meet the first hero, the one from Skyloft?" and I have to say I really enjoyed writing it!

“Is everyone alright?” Time called out. The group had just gone through a portal and were still getting their bearings. A few gave thumbs up while a couple swayed back a fourth for a moment.

“That’s heavily debatable.” Four said, eyes flashing blue for a moment.

“Anyone know where we are?” Legend asked. No one said anything as they looked at their surroundings.

“Let’s look around, maybe we just haven’t seen this area yet.” Twilight said. The group agreed and headed off. Sky felt an odd recognition of the area as they left in a random direction.

***

“Hey, I think I see a town!” Wind called out. Ahead of them, as Wind pointed out, was a line of houses with more peeking out from behind them.

“Does anyone recognize this place yet?” Warriors asked. Everyone shook their heads, save for Sky, who then spoke up.

“I feel like I recognize this place, but that doesn’t make any sense since there’s no people on the surface in my time.”

“Maybe we’re meeting a new hero!” Wind yelled while jumping up and down.

“We haven’t found another hero for a few months now, so while plausible it’s not very likely.” Four said, this time his eyes flashing purple.

“I don’t know, every time we’ve gone to a new Hyrule there’s always been another hero there.” Twilight mentioned.

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask around. Let’s split up and meet back here in an hour.” Wild said. The group split off and went to ask the locals about the possible new hero.

***

“Excuse me, do you know where we can find a guy named Link?” Wind asked an old woman. She looked at him in disgust before walking away quickly.

“Well that was rude.” Warriors commented.

“Tell me about it. The people here either aren’t very friendly, or they have some vendetta against this worlds Link.” Wind stomped forwards a bit while Warriors caught up.

“They definitely know something. An entire town wouldn’t act like this if there wasn’t a Link here. The question is why they seem to dislike him so much.” Warriors fidgeted with his scarf a bit.

“Well we won’t know unless we keep asking!” Wind ran to an only man sitting on a rocking chair outside what was presumably his house. “Hey old man,” Warriors sputtered at the lack of respect. “Mind telling us where we can find a guy named Link?”

The old man looked down at him in curiosity. His expression shifted into a slight grimace before responding.

“And why might you be looking for him, child?” The old man asked.

“We need his help with something. It’s kinda important so if you could point us in the right direction that would be great!” Wind threw his fist up in the air while Warriors listened intently.

“I wouldn’t suggest getting _his_ help for anything, but I suppose telling you where to find him won’t affect anything. The boy’s been locked up in the dungeon for a few years now.” Wind and Warriors both took on shocked expressions.

“Um… Would you mind telling us where we can find this dungeon? We would like to talk to him if possible.” Warriors said. The old man hesitated, then nodded.

“You can find it on the northern side of town, directly under that big tower over there.” He pointed to an old grey tower on the far side of the town. “Be careful though, many say he’s a dangerous man.”

“We’ll be sure to stay vigilant, thank you for the help.” Warriors tapped Wind on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Let’s head back to the meetup spot and tell the others about this.” Warriors whispered to him. The duo set off back to where they had first entered the village.

***

“So, an old man told you the guy was _locked up?_ ” Legend raised his eyebrow. “Are we sure this guy is a hero?”

“We won’t know until we ask him.” Hyrule pointed out.

“Agreed.” Time began walking back into the town. “We will ask this prisoner about why he was locked up. Perhaps that will clear up some things.”

Most followed him while Sky hung back for a moment. This place really _was_ familiar. Well… not the town, but the layout was almost exactly like the forest from his time. There were at least some differences in the layout of areas between their times, but to have this little difference? It didn’t make sense.

“Sky, are you coming?” Wild called out to him. The others were already into the town at this point, causing Sky to run to catch up. It seems he got lost in thought. Whatever, it’s probably just a coincidence, right?

***

The Heroes walked up to the dungeon entrance. Seems the old man pointed them in the correct direction. Time walked up to the guard who was eyeing them carefully.

“Excuse me, would there be any way we could talk with Link? We heard he was being held here.” The guard gave them a dirty look.

“Link? Why him?” He looked them up and down. “You relatives or something?”

“You could say that.” Twilight walked up to the guard. “It’s kinda important that we talk to him though, so if you could let us through, we would be very appreciated.”

“I guess… Just be careful, alright. They say the dude’s as dangerous as Demise himself.” Time looked skeptical at that while Sky gasped slightly.

“Many have told us that, we’ll be sure to stay vigilant, thank you very much.” Twilight beckoned the other heroes forward through the doors of the dungeon. “Oh, I almost forgot, could you tell us where his cell is?”

“Ah yes, take a left at the four way, then down the hall there’s some stairs. They’ll lead you right to his cell. Here’s the cell key.” The guard tossed Time the key which he caught expertly. The group headed down the hallway and took the turn, now out of the guard’s sight.

“Well he seemed very trusting.” Four piped up, taking the lead down the hallway.

“The people here seem not to worry about much, except Link apparently.” Wild grimaced. “Very different from my time.”

“Yeah, or this Demise the dude mentioned earlier.” Wind punched the air. “Whoever this guy is, I’ll beat him to a pulp!”

“Demise is not to be trifled with.” Sky mentioned from the back. He had been tailing behind, thinking. “I fought him on my journey, rather than Ganon who seems to be very popular among all of you.”

“So he’s just as powerful as Ganon?” Hyrule asked.

“Honestly, I couldn’t tell, since I haven’t experienced Ganon for myself. For all I know he could be just a bug compared to Ganon, or a monster greater than even Legend could imagine.” Silence rained for a couple seconds.

“Was that an insult or a compliment. I really can’t tell when it comes from you.”

“I’ll let you figure that one out.” Sky smiled. The smile fell quickly though once he remembered where they were. “We should continue. I’d like to figure this out as soon as possible.”

They all carried on, descending some stairs. Sky kept to the back, thoughts running wild. He wasn’t dumb. He realized _when_ they were. This was before Skyloft even rose to the sky. Only one hero had ever come before him, and that hero had been the one to raise it. That was the hero they were about to go and see. But… Why was he in prison?

“We’re here.” Time said. Sky looked up. This area of the dungeon didn’t seem to get much light. Sun strained in through a small grate in the corner, but still casted shadows over the man in chains. Time opened the door. The heroes all crowded through into the small cell.

“Uhh… Hello?” Warriors disrupted the silence that followed. “Hey buddy? You alright?” Warriors got close to him. His eyes suddenly snapped open.

“Why are you here?” He asked. His voice clearly didn’t get much use by how grainy it was.

“That’s a long story, actually.” Twilight said. “You see, we’re actually Heroes much like you.” The man’s eyes focused intently. He studied Twilight for a few moments before glaring.

“I’m no hero.”

“You… are Link right?” Four asked, eyes flashing red.

“Yes, but I’m not a hero.”

“But that doesn’t make sense!” Wind yelled out. “If your Link, that means you’re a hero! Hylia wouldn’t have sent us here if you weren’t!”

“Hylia?” Link eyed them curiously.

“Yeah, to explain more accurately, we are _heroes_ chosen by Hylia to save the land. Currently, we’re all coming together to take down a bigger threat. That’s our guess at least.” Legend said. He had been on many adventures and was putting together pieces in his head. This guy was certainly interesting.

“Why would she get so many people just to fight Demise?” Link asked.

“Oh, right, should probably explain that part.” Wild said. “Well, we are all actually named Link, and we are basically you from what’s probably the very far off future? But different futures. Time broke time, I combined time, we think, and it honestly just gets more complicated from here so we’re all better off explaining this when visiting hours can’t become a problem.” Wild took a big gulp of air after finishing his rant. Some looked at him in confusion while others banged their heads against the wall.

“To put it simply, the goddess needs us.” Sky stated. Link had a shocked expression from this.

“The… goddess?”

“Uhh, yeah? Dude Hylia is like, _the_ goddess. Is this news to you or something?” Warriors asked.

“She’s a goddess now?” Link stood up suddenly, chains clashing around from the movement.

“You mean she wasn’t before?” Wind asked.

“No, she is- was my friend.”

“Was?” Sky asked. He heard that Hylia and Hero had not known each other well, but that didn’t quite fit what Link was saying.

“She was what got me into this mess if I’m being honest, though I probably shouldn’t blame her.”

“How so?” Legend asked wiping a bit of blood off his forehead for no reason in particular.

“She came here and helped me in battle against Demises army. She rode a crimson loftwing, encouraging everyone and boosting morale like never before. She gave me a specially crafted blade and had me lead the charge.” Link looked down at the floor now.

“However, after we had taken down a good chunk of Demise’s army and stopped their advances, she left, claiming she had other work to take care of. We didn’t stop her, after all she had helped us greatly, but morale did suffer a bit. After that a huge wave of Demise’s army attacked the town. We lost hope since Hylia wasn’t there to guide us. We lost a lot of progress and people that day.” The heroes were shocked to hear this. No one had ever thought something like that would happen with Hylia being able to influence actions _directly_.

“And people needed someone to blame. They targeted me, since I was supposed to lead them in Hylia’s stead. If you couldn’t tell, I wasn’t the leader they needed. My sword broke during the battle and I was useless. The sword Hylia gave me was still sitting at my house so I ran to grab it. By the time I returned the massacre had been over, and I was named a deserter. Thus, I was thrown in here.” Link slumped down, finished with his story.

“But that’s not right!” Wind yelled. “They can’t lock you up if all you were doing was trying to help!”

“They did the right thing.” Wind looked like he was about to burst a vein. “Listen, I know you don’t like it, but locking me up gave them someone to direct their anger at.” A few of their eyes lit up in understanding. “If they didn’t have me as an outlet, they could destroy themselves and each other, trying to find who was to blame.”

“I understand where you’re coming from.” Warriors said. “Actually, I think most of us understand.” Everyone nodded at this. Even Wind.

“Just because we understand doesn’t mean we like it, though!” The sailor yelled out.

“You don’t have to like it.” Link said. “But it’s better this way.”

“Back to the main topic,” Twilight said. “Hylia wouldn’t have sent us here for no reason. We can always just break you out and bring you with us.”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.” Link said. “I would love to leave, but I think I’d prefer to stay here, and wait for the day I’m needed again.”

“But we can get you out!” Wind yelled. “I don’t understand why you would want to stay here! Three years is plenty of time for them to vent their anger!”

“It’s his choice, Wind.” Time put his hand on Wind’s shoulder. “If he wants to stay, he can. Link.” Link looked up to Time.

“Was there something else you wanted before you left?” Link asked. Time nodded.

“I hope one day you will see yourself as the hero you are. Let’s go, everyone.” Time turned away. The other Links followed, some reluctantly.

“Hey.” Link called out before Time closed the cell door. Time turned.

“Yes?”

“Thankyou.” Time closed the door.

The heroes left the dungeon in silence, thanking the guard once again on the way out. They left the village the same way they came in, only to see another portal waiting for them.

“I guess we’re heading out.” Wind slumped.

“Yeah, it’s unfortunate.” Sky smiled and looked up to the sky. “I think we’ll see him again though.”

“What makes you say that?” Wild asked.

“I just have a feeling.” Sky shrugged and beckoned the others towards the portal. The heroes emerged out into Wild’s hyrule, facing Hateno.

Once Wild got his bearings, his face lit up.

“Awesome! I have a special spice here to put in some stew. Anyone hungry?”

All the heroes’ hands shot up.

***

“Oh, that was a bad one.” Four said, gripping his head. He kept them covered, but if you looked closely you could see his eyes rapidly changing color.

“Even I felt that one.” Legend said, holding his arms out to keep balance.

“I’m just glad to be out of my time.” Hyrule said.

“The monsters there definitely have more bloodlust than usual.” Warriors seemed to be alright now. “Uhh…guys? Look where we are.”

The heroes had emerged from the portal right outside the village from the chained hero. The surroundings were a little different though. Houses were burnt down, roofs caving in and walls charred black. Up high in the sky was a piece of land, slowly rising, and a beam of light rising to meet it.

“That’s Skyloft!” Sky yelled suddenly. He began running towards the beam of light. The others in hot pursuit. They climbed over pieces of rubble only to see Link holding a sword up to the sky, the source of the beam of light. The heroes stood there amazed and watched for a few moments.

Suddenly, as Skyloft rose above the clouds, the swords disappeared from Link’s grasp, quickly shooting upwards and beyond their sight. Link suddenly collapsed on the ground. The heroes looked him over, quickly seeing the myriad of injuries on his form.

Sky ran over to him and called out to him. Link opened his eyed, barely conscious.

“It’s you…” The words came out softly, the man not being able to project much louder.

“We’ll help you, just hold on. Guys! Get any healing supplies from your bags! These injuries are really bad!” Everyone searched through their bags, producing fairies, potions, and bandages. Warriors even produced a bottle of alcohol to clean the wounds.

“Why… are you helping me?” Sky tipped some potion into his mouth while Time spoke with the fairy to ask for its help.

“Because, you need help, and we’re heroes.” Link looked at the ground. Sky continued to give him the potion. “I’m glad we came here when we did, or we might not have made it in time.” Sky finished off the potion, the fairy already done with her work.

“Seems we didn’t need as much stuff as I thought. Oh well.” Sky began giving the healing supplies back to their owners.

Link sat up, the magic having worked spectacularly and leaving him fully healed.

“Thank you, once again.” Link said.

“You could thank us by telling us what happened.” Twilight smiled at him.

“Oh… well it started with Demises army attacking once again. First time in four years, actually. The people quickly realized that they didn’t stand a chance and came back to free me. They gave me the sword that Hylia had originally given to me and asked for my help. Even if they locked me up, it still felt wrong to leave them to that fate, so I fought.” Link stood up now, looking the heroes over with more detail.

“Near the end, I engaged in battle with Demise himself, with Hylia returning to help. As you could see, I ended up gravely wounded, but was able to seal him in the ground. To protect the people from Demises left over army, we raised the land to the sky. I stayed here because we needed someone to raise it from the ground, and I was already injured beyond saving, at least we thought I was.” Link turned, his back now facing the heroes.

“I didn’t die, though I didn’t exactly plan for you guys to show up last minute and save me from the brink of death.”

“Yeah, we do that sometimes.” Wild gave a thumbs up. Link looked up to the sky.

“Well, I suppose I should figure out what I’m going to do now.”

“Why don’t you come with us!” Wind asked him. His fists were pulled close to his chest and he had a big smile on his face.

“You know what, I think I’d like that.” Link let a smile grace his own face. Everyone agreed and they began walking back towards where the original nine heroes had come through.

“Hold on a minute.” Four said. “You still need a nickname.”

“And how do you guys choose your nicknames exactly?” Link raised an eyebrow.

“Usually we base it off of our hero title, but you can’t really do that, so maybe use something that represents your difference to us?” Hyrule asked.

“Hmm… I have an idea. How about Lock? After all I still became a hero after being locked away for four years.” Link smiled at the ground as he said this.

“Sounds good to me.” Time said. The newly dubbed Lock gave a thumbs up.

“Hey, there’s the portal.” Twilight said. He pointed to the swirling mass of void ahead of the group.

“Alright, you ready to see what being a hero’s all about?” Wild asked. Lock nodded and the group jumped through the portal.

***

The heroes caught their bearings only to look out at a sea of white. Sky smiled brightly as Lock still recovered from his first switch.

“Welcome to Skyloft!"

**Author's Note:**

> I may decide to write a part 2, depending if people like it or not!


End file.
